Guided by his blackberry
Play
Songyot Kanthamanon, chief executive at ReadyPlanet.com and E-Commerce Providers, books a trip to Phuket
Are you ready for an experience something like this?
You’re planning a birthday celebration for your wife. “Phuket,” she suggests. So you start googling for a cool resort on Phuket, and find an interesting hotel-booking site that lists many such places on the island.
Finally, you choose two nights in a deluxe room at a boutique resort.
Almost immediately you get a BlackBerry alert – it’s an offer from another Phuket getaway that you visited a couple years ago with your girlfriend (the lady who’s now your wife). It has a “welcome-back” promotion: a Pool Villa Resort at 25 per cent off.
“Wow, what a coincidence! How did they know we’re visiting Phuket again?”
While you’re re-checking your booking page to compare prices, you get an urgent phone call from your wife. “I just got a WhatsApp message from a travel agency about a very cheap Phuket airfare!”
“What a coincidence! How did they know we’re flying to Phuket?”
Your wife buys the tickets online, using your credit card.
You decide to hold off booking the resort, and then a few days later you’re reading the financial news online and see an ad for Phuket resorts. “Wow, what a coincidence! This site is reminding me about booking a place!”
“Blink!” Another BlackBerry alert: Your wife has sent you a message on Facebook. She spotted an ad on Facebook for a “birthday dinner in Phuket” – at one of her favourite romantic restaurants.
“Are you joking?” you say. “How did they know it’s your birthday?”
“It’s just a coincidence,” she says. “Should I book it?”
She does and you scrutinise the e-mailed invoice for the restaurant booking. It has an ad on the right about a limited-time offer of two nights in a deluxe room at a Phuket boutique resort – the exact same place you almost booked a few days ago – and it’s now 30 per cent cheaper! You grab it.
On arrival in Phuket, you get an SMS about deals on car rentals at the airport. Phuket taxis are expensive, so you lease a car. You take a snapshot of your wife with the car and tweet it as “Beautiful girl with beautiful car”.
You’re in the car waiting while your wife buys some stuff near the airport and you get an e-mail from Twitter: “Phuket Airport Fashion Store (@phuketfashionstore) is now following you.”
Luckily your wife hasn’t finished shopping yet, but you’re now wondering, “How many more of these coincidences can I expect in the next two days?”
Are you ready? Coincidences like these are coming to a computer near you.
